JACKSON — With an increase in the number of feral, abandoned and stray cats, volunteers are calling for Jackson officials to create a trap-neuter-return (TNR) ordinance that will be humane, improve public health and help cut costs.
At the April 28 meeting of the Township Council, officials heard from volunteer Susan Addelston and Sue Shannon, a board member and past president of the Volunteer Auxiliary for Animal Shelters Inc. of Northern Ocean County. They discussed TNR efforts.
“Action must be taken now,” Addelston said. “This is not a political issue. This is the spring. It is the height of the breeding season. We cannot afford to wait on this.”
Addelston said the Animal Welfare Task Force of New Jersey defines a feral cat as a domestic cat that was lost or abandoned and has reverted into a wild state, or as a cat that was born to a stray or a feral mother and has little or no human contact.
Adult feral cats can rarely be tamed without considerable effort and are not suited to living indoors with people, she told officials. They live outside in family groups and depend on the group for food and shelter. Their average life span is from three to five years. They are not barn cats.
“New Jersey has a large number of feral cats living outdoors year round,” said Addelston. “Projections indicate that this population is about 400,000 cats in the summer and 200,000 in the winter.”
At present, Jackson does not have a TNR program in place and the representatives were attempting to lobby officials to implement one.
Addelston said there is a cost right now to Jackson to trap cats and shelter them. In many instances, because the cats cannot be adopted, they are killed after a seven-day waiting period.
“I say killed as opposed to euthanasia,” she said. “Euthanasia is a Greek word that means good death. Ferals do not have a good death. They are killed.”
Addelston said studies show that killing feral cats is unsuccessful in reducing the feline population.
She said TNR is designed to achieve the goal of controlling the general population by trapping the cats, sterilizing (neutering) them, inoculating them with a rabies vaccine, returning them to the point of origin and monitoring them.
“They can be identified in the future, because their ear is clipped,” she said. “The population slows due to attrition and the very few adoptable kittens that are removed. TNR is not a quick fix, but over a couple of years the population can drop sharply, as well as the costs. TNR is the humane thing to do. This is a people-caused problem and people can and must solve it.”
She said only 117 of New Jersey’s 600- plus municipalities have done what the TNR advocates are asking. She asked Jackson officials to adopt an ordinance to support the legalization of TNR.
“Let us do the humane thing, help ferals, improve public health and reduce costs,” she said. “Please help those animals who, through no choice of their own, have no home. We ask you to please pass a TNR initiative now.”
Shannon said although she is not a resident of Jackson, she has worked in the township for more than 10 years and said there has been a tremendous increase in the number of cats in Jackson and nearby Manchester.
She said Point Pleasant Beach has initiated a TNR program and told officials there has been an improvement in that community’s cat situation.
Council President Mike Kafton said, “This is a huge issue in the state. I wholeheartedly support TNR which provides for the humane treatment of feral cats in our community.”
Kafton thanked the volunteers who show compassion for the animals.
Dan Burke, the director of community development and enforcement, said the animal control division falls under his jurisdiction and said the issue has been discussed in the past.
“The animal control staff is in favor of getting involved in the TNR program and I fully support it.” Burke said. “Two-thirds of our expenses are from cats. It’s a sizeable number and the cost of $90 per cat is right. I would endorse getting involved in the program based on the support from the staff and I think it is in Jackson’s best interest.”
Mayor Michael Reina said he thought the TNR program was worthwhile and said he would like to see a board put together to deal with the issue.
A TNR ordinance is expected to be drawn up and presented at a future council meeting.